Wang Shi, Chairman of Vanke Charity Foundation. Image source: Vanke Foundation
Chinese entrepreneurs have a synchronized understanding of climate change with the entire world.
Jiao Lingling/Sent from Beijing
"I checked the Internet and found that our generation of entrepreneurs have fulfilled some responsibility for the living environment of their descendants. Then I will be in peace."
On November 2, 2021, during the Glasgow Climate Conference, the "China Enterprise Pavilion" established by Vanke Charity Foundation and C Team officially opened. Wang Shi, chairman of Vanke Charity Foundation, made a speech on the theme of "This Road is not lonely". He not only recalled the shock and confusion brought to him by Kilimanjaro Snow Mountain , but also talked about his actions and hopes.
In fact, since the first time he attended the climate conference held in Copenhagen in 2009, Wang Shi will attend the climate conference every year, and it has been 13 years now. It is precisely with his unwillingness to give up and his every year that he witnessed the changes in China's corporate climate action every year.
From the first time that three Chinese private people attended the climate conference in 2009, representing 100 Chinese companies to attend the conference. To the 2013 Warsaw Conference, there were "China Pavilion" and "China Enterprise Day". More and more Chinese companies participated in the conference, and the number of personnel also changed from 100 to 1,000; in 2015, 1,000 became 10,000; in 2018 and 2019, this number became 1 million.
The Chinese entrepreneur group is increasingly actively engaged in global actions to deal with climate change and change the world in ways that change themselves. "Chinese entrepreneurs have the same perception that if no changes are made today, the planet will abandon humanity," Wang Shi said in his speech.
Wang Shi previously said that entrepreneurs need to "update themselves", and he is also updating himself. As the founder of Vanke , Wang Shi has been paying attention to climate change since 2003. Not long ago, he used "three insomnia" to express his indissoluble bond with environmental protection at the "2021 Dameisha Carbon Neutralization International Forum".
In 2009, Wang Shi attended the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference as a representative of Chinese entrepreneurs. On the eve of the meeting, Wang Shi suffered from insomnia for the first time. First, he finally represented Chinese companies to participate in the international environmental protection cause, and second, because there were not many Chinese companies paying attention to and participating in environmental protection cause at that time, but the environmental situation was becoming increasingly severe.
In September 2020, Wang Shi suffered from insomnia for the second time that night, the night China announced its "dual carbon" target. As an environmental veteran, when he heard the "dual carbon" goal was established, Wang Shi felt like an old war horse heard the charge , which was extremely excited.
In the early morning of October 16, 2021, Shenzhou No. 13 was successfully launched, and Wang Shi suffered from insomnia for the third time. Wang Shi said that he likes mountaineering, boating, hiking, and also likes aerospace. The successful launch of the rocket this time is also a symbol of China's rise. China's recent announcement that it will no longer build coal-power plants abroad shows that China does not reduce emissions by transferring carbon emissions to developing countries , like other developed countries. The aerospace industry is not easy, and the environmental protection industry also needs to be persisted in for a long time.
Wang Shi said frankly that he was very proud before the country announced the "dual carbon" goal, because he felt that as an environmentalist, he was ahead of him from Vanke's retirement to continuing to use public welfare power to promote environmental protection and has also been recognized at home and abroad.
implicitly, Wang Shi’s understanding of environmental protection has a new connotation, that is, the “ carbon neutrality ” economy.
"It seems that many of my previous 20 years of work, entrepreneurship, environmental protection and sports are preparing for the carbon neutrality cause. In other words, I have started a new round of entrepreneurship. I only found a career worthwhile for the rest of my life at the age of 70." Wang Shi even believes that the carbon neutrality economy has become the focus of his life in 2021.
Wang Shi of the Action Sect did not say it casually, he already had a deep understanding of the "dual carbon" economy.
According to Wang Shi, Vanke is trying to achieve zero carbon in some communities, but it is very difficult, and one of the difficulties is garbage classification. In 2005, Vanke launched a garbage classification experiment in a community in Haidian, Beijing, hoping to achieve local digestion of organic garbage .However, there is still no promotion in scale after 16 years, and its contribution to carbon neutrality is extremely limited.
Wang Shi said that if the community wants to achieve zero carbon, the cost is very high. First of all, it must reduce carbon emissions through carbon reduction and the use of green energy, but it is still far from zero carbon. To achieve this goal, you can only purchase indicators through the carbon trading market.
However, the development of technology has reduced the difficulty of achieving carbon neutrality to a certain extent. Wang Shi analyzed that, for example, the performance ratio of photovoltaic power generation has increased significantly in the past decade. Vanke is transforming Shenzhen’s Vanke Central Building into a two-square-kilometer carbon-neutral community. "The building used photovoltaic power generation 12 years ago, but the cost is high, and the power generation efficiency is only about 10%. If you replace it with the latest facilities, the efficiency will be doubled."
So, Wang Shi believes that if China can commercialize and scale the technology and mobilize the entire market, many things that foreign countries cannot do can also be done in China.
At present, Wang Shi has begun to promote the "carbon neutral community" project in China and is visiting and inspecting. From the perspective of promoting the socialization of carbon neutrality, Wang Shi used to consider Vanke's architecture, but now he is thinking about the architecture of the whole of China. Under the concept of carbon neutrality, architecture, a once pure energy consumable, has also begun to reduce energy consumption and even consume no energy. It can be imagined that once the pilot of "carbon neutral community" is successful, some old communities will gradually upgrade "carbon neutral communities", and the "carbon neutrality action" in the field of construction in China will also be quickly rolled out.
Wang Shi said that it seems that many of his 20 years of work have been preparing for the carbon neutrality cause. He also said, "Look, this is what I said. If you use a utilitarian mind, you may be trapped in your own limitations."
Looking back, in 2014, Wang Shi led Vanke to announce the clear goal of " carbon emission reduction ", as the first enterprise in the global real estate industry to openly formulate comprehensive and clear carbon emission reduction targets. "At that time, Vanke adopted prefabricated technology, and the cost increased by 30%, while wood usage was saved by 87%. Vanke now uses prefabricated technology 100%, and the cost gradually declined. When the government required the use of new technology in 40% of buildings in 2016, Vanke was ready and showed strong competitiveness in the industry," said Wang Shi.
In 2016, the "China Real Estate Industry Green Supply Chain Action" initiated by Alxa SEE Ecological Association , Zhongcheng Alliance , Quanlian Real Estate Chamber of Commerce , Vanke and Longshi is the first green supply chain to be fully implemented in the form of industry alliances in the world. Real estate companies are encouraged to use procurement rights to manage green supply chains and achieve "no green, no procurement" on the procurement side. Now five years have passed, and the number of participating real estate companies has expanded from the initial 48 to 100, from the first batch of 159 "whitelist" companies to the latest 3,874 companies. In 2020, the number of green purchases has been completed.
"Being virtuous is not lonely, there must be neighbors." Based on previous experience, Wang Shi believes that although there are many uncertainties on the road to dual carbon targets, modern enterprises can move forward together as long as they show the spirit of Kuafu chasing the sun and unite.
Wang Shi did it.
On October 31, 2021, UK local time, the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change kicked off in Glasgow . On the afternoon of November 2, the "China Corporate Pavilion" established by Vanke Charity Foundation and C Team officially opened. Wang Shi, chairman of Vanke Charity Foundation, delivered an opening speech with the theme of "This Road is Not Alone". The following is the full text of the speech:
Dear guests:
Hello everyone, I am Wang Shi, welcome to the China Enterprise Pavilion.
From Copenhagen to Glasgow, I come to the climate conference every year. In a blink of an eye, ten years have passed. Over the past ten years, our earth and the human situation have undergone tremendous changes. In the context of the new crown epidemic, it is more uncertain, but some things are certain. In the Chinese Enterprise Pavilion, I will definitely meet old friends.
Jie Zhenhua Climate Ambassador and former Vice President Gore, I sincerely welcome the two who visited the China Enterprise Pavilion again. The arrival of my old friend also evokes my memories from many years ago.
In 2009, my first time attending the climate conference was in Copenhagen. What impressed me most was that I saw a large poster as soon as I got off the train, which drew the leaders of various countries by 50 years older, and looked very old. There was a passage written in the tone of the leader:
"I'm sorry, we could have stopped catastrophic climate change...but we didn't." The poster conveyed pessimism.
This time, I didn't see a similar poster. If there were, I hope the slogan could be modified: "I feel very proud because at the Glasgow conference, I made the right decision and saw that the earth did not look bad." Obviously, I conveyed optimism.
Do we want to be optimistic? At least here, in the China Enterprise Pavilion, we have reasons for optimism.
The group image changes of Chinese entrepreneurs at the climate conference
2009, when I first attended the climate conference, the "China Enterprise Pavilion" was not what it is now. Moreover, there were very few people from China at that time. In my impression, with myself, there were only three people. Including the companies we represented behind, there were only about 100. At that time, I wanted to issue a climate declaration for a Chinese enterprise, but I didn’t know how to organize it. I wanted to do an event and had no venue. I could only install two balloon devices in the corridor. We stood there, and no one paid attention to us.
But we did not give up, and we came every year after that. Only because we did not give up can we witness the changes every year.
The Warsaw Conference in 2013 began to have the "China Pavilion" and "China Enterprise Day". More and more Chinese companies participated in the conference. The number mentioned just now also changed from 100 to 1,000. In the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, 1,000 has become 10,000. In 2018 and 2019, China's faces became more and more, and this number has become 1 million.
2021, under the background of the new crown epidemic, Chinese companies participating in this side meeting of the China Enterprise Pavilion on-site + online, cover almost all industries in the field of carbon emission reduction, including construction, energy, finance, industry, transportation, Internet, retail, fashion, carbon management, etc. Next, CBCA (China Enterprise Climate Action) will issue a joint initiative, and the representative companies will exceed 1 million.
from 100 to 1000, from 100 million to 1 million, on the surface, it is just a set of data. Behind the numbers is the changes that are taking place in China and the changes in concepts, which happen in people's minds -
Chinese entrepreneurs have the same perception, that is, if no changes are made today, this planet will abandon humanity. I think that even if Elon Musk can really do it, and send some people to Mars , most people can only stay here and have nowhere to escape.
Chinese entrepreneurs have a synchronized understanding of climate change with the entire world.
The responsibility of enterprises to implement national strategies Strengthen international cooperation
In recent years, the more important force of change has also come from national policy adjustments, that is, China's "3060" strategy. This is China's commitment, the responsibility of the country and the responsibility of the people. Commitment, responsibility, and responsibility are three ordinary words, but how much pressure is this for a big country with a population of 1.4 billion and a rapidly developing economy ? How difficult is it? How big is the impact?
We often use two words to describe it: "systemic" and "disruptive". "systemic" refers to the scope of change and will cover everyone and all businesses, and "disruptive" refers to the intensity of change. But no matter which word, change has happened and we have no choice. I remember a Chinese official said the following passage:
"In the process of responding to climate change, enterprises are the main force. The government has formulated goals, regulations, policies, and standards, and created an external environment. The main force that truly implements these goals is in the industry, in enterprises, and in society. Entrepreneurs are the main force of action."
We can only accept change, and we must also find opportunities in change! Here, I want to share a story with my friends, which may be inspiring.
I started climbing in 2002. Before that climb, I read a novel by Hemingway . The book describes a snow mountain with snow covered all year round near the equator, which is the Kilimanjaro Snow Mountain. The novel has the same name as the mountain, called " Kilimanjaro Snow ". I was attracted by the novel to climb to the top of the mountain, but what surprised me was that I did not see the snow, only glaciers. Why? Because of climate change, Kilimanjaro has become a seasonal snow-capped mountain.
I am a little disappointed, why does this change? When I went back and checked the information, I was shocked. The important reason for climate change came from the disappearance of forests. The big consuming forests were the real estate industry. What’s more terrifying is that the company I led was the largest real estate company in China. In other words, Hemingway’s novels, the snow in Kilimanjaro, and the disappearance of snow were actually related to me and my company. Isn’t this scary?
But I also see hope that if I make changes, it may have a clear positive effect on climate change.
After returning, we began to contact international organizations and international companies in the field of climate change, and decided to change and affect our supply chain. We also mobilized enterprises in the industry to take joint actions and everyone adjusted the supply chain together. We told our partners: If there is no green certification from authoritative institutions, we will have to give up your products. The power of the
joint is very strong. By 2020, the total sales of green supply chains among real estate companies will account for the proportion of civil real estate sales of real estate companies across the country, from 0 to 40%. In many industries, the "green chain" action is becoming the choice of more and more Chinese companies.
summarized, enterprises participate in the "3060": First, have determination, second, take action, and third, strengthen international cooperation, especially cooperation with international organizations and international enterprises.
hopes for young people
to say my heart, I am 70 years old this year. Speaking of "3060", according to modern medical conditions, 2030, I should be able to see it, but it is hard to say 2060. Why have we been involved in environmental protection work for so many years? Have always firmly supported the country's strategy of responding to climate change. Whenever you have the opportunity, you will make a little voice and do your best? Why? It is to fulfill the responsibilities of our generation.
I also want to tell you that a few years ago, I chose a cemetery for myself. I hope that many years later, if someone passes by my cemetery and doesn’t point fingers at me, I will be very happy. If they are more diligent and check the Internet, they will find that our generation of entrepreneurs have fulfilled some responsibility for the living environment of their descendants, then I will be in peace.
Of course, before I enter the cemetery, I want to say a little hope, which is a sentence that Chinese people often hear: hope is placed on young people.
But this is by no means a cliché. A month ago, I was communicating with my classmates at a university in Shanghai. A classmate stopped me and said to me, "Mr. Wang, I'm the same as you." I was stunned at the time and I said, "What's the same?" He said, you like reading, exercising, and doing charity. I also study, exercise and invest time in charity, so I am the same as you.
I said, you are different from me. Our generation has only thought about charity only when enterprises have achieved a certain level. But you are so young and have started a charity life. You are better than me in this regard.
So, I said that hope is placed on young people, this is a truth.
Thank you.
